A Personal Journey - the eBook by Ross Muir
In June 2006, shortly after Journey's successful U.K. and European shows but before their Special Guests slot with Def Leppard in the States, posts appeared on Internet blog and news sites accusing the band of lip-syncing lead vocalist Steve Augeri's performances throughout the Generations Tour of 2005 and the 2006 U.K. and European performances (with vocal deceptions allegedly dating back to 2003 and sporadic use of pre-recorded vocal implemented in 2004).
After the initial accusation many others, including people who had worked for the band, soon corroborated the story and confirmed the main source for the synced vocal tracks as the isolated lead vocal from the Las Vegas recording of December 2000 (which itself had been Pro-Tooled before that show was released as a DVD in 2001).
Immediately after the story broke, the band started the Def Leppard tour with a vocally poor Steve Augeri, and the performances were so bad that he was dropped from the tour after only a few dates due to a "chronic throat infection". Augeri was replaced by Jeff Scott Soto who was himself later dropped, eventually being replaced by Arnel Pineda.
Ross Muir had been a fan of the band since the late seventies but had no real interest in the group since their reinvention and change of personnel in 1998, but found the story intriguing and too shocking to ignore if found to be true.
And the timing was fortuitous...
"I was writing 'A Personal Journey' at that exact time (a bandography eBook) and the meat of the article became 'Syncgate' and the facts of the matter.
Using the evidence already presented plus citing further comment, audio and visual proof, the alleged deceit was explained, and that particular episode of the bands career along with other issues raised in A Personal Journey have since been confirmed by others who had been associated with the band, staff or management.
However the post-Syncgate path that the Journey led to became even more of a story, and the eBook was updated with a series of Addendums to chart that continuing Journey, including the 2008 resurgence.
The 'Definitive Edition' can be found at the link given below, which includes insight into the stories behind the stories - or at least the stories the band will not confirm or discuss.
So, as it turned out, there was more to add to my 'personal journey' post-2006 than I would have previously thought possible - much like the bands own Journey..."
Ross Muir
Prestwick, Scotland
A Personal Journey - Definitive Edition
The Rise, Decline, and Re-Imagining of The Scarab 1973 - 2009
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7AAC3RMT
©2006-2009 Ross Muir. All rights reserved. No portion may be reprinted without express permission of the copyright holder.
